Andrea Ayres wrote a great piece for the ooomf Blog with helpful suggestions about how to end "bad" days. I love that she included reading on her list! I know a few minutes with a good book or short story will often cure my creative blocks in the office. My theory is that it wakes up a different part of my brain - the part I need to use to write (which is 90 percent of what I really do.) Do you have any strategies to help yourself feel better on a bad day? Do you have any book recs for me? Click here to read the complete post - it's well worth your time!

Oh, and...if you're depressed... order a Mood Spray. I just mixed a fresh order of Apathy - and the pink grapefruit in this batch is the brightest and freshest yet.

This photo has absolutely nothing to do with mood sprays or crowd funding. I just wanted to show you my vintage faux leopard coat and the red bag I bought in Paris fifteen years ago.

Now, on to the point:

Every once in awhile a friend will ask me why I don't put the Anti-Bad-Mood Sprays on Kickstarter. I have vision for my products beyond what you see here (mostly marketing and sample sizes) but it's tough to leverage the cash to make some of those dreams come true.The crowdfunding concept is attractive and Kickstarter's success stories would make any entrepreneur want to try for the gold.

But here's what I've learned after working in philanthropy: there's no such thing as "free money." Here's another thing I've learned from a decade of helping nonprofits raise money: You can ask for money but you can only ask one time. No - really.

Think of it this way and your successful grant applications will noticeably increase: If you have just one opportunity to connect with a funding source - are you ready? Can you present a carefully thought out idea (you would be surprised how many people believe that a casual social relationship with a funder will be more important than have an actual idea to discuss.) Does your work fit the donor's funding interests? Is it a quality product? Will you pursue the goal with or without funders' support? Do you have the skills to pull any of it off? Because if you're not ready even though you swore you would be then you can't ask again. If you do get the money then you have a set of responsibilities to the donor. Are you prepared for that?

So much energy goes into the creative presentation of ideas - that's a truly beautiful thing and crowd funders do that really well. Where it often falls apart is on delivery. Because happens when you accept support but your end product is just, kind of..."meh"...? What happens when the idea never comes to fruition? That's powerful information you're sending to your community of supporters about your products and your abilities to pull it off. Botch it and you'll never be able to ask again.

If you've given support to more than one Kickstarter project the chances are you've received something pretty average in return. Okay, it's a gamble and not every gamble pays off. But would you give money to that entrepreneur again? Or just look for someone else the next time around?

Also, my experience has been that people get tired of the "ask." How many times have you received an email from a cause promising that they'll never ask you for money again? Never is as long as it takes for the next email to arrive, just a couple of months later. Like a guy on the street corner with a cup out - passerby eventually become indifferent to his plight. In the case of nonprofit arts, I don't think that your email list makes any distinction between the tickets you're selling as an "ask" and the quarterly plea for donations. An "ask" is an "ask." They will become indifferent to repeated requests. So what do you want the most from them? Ask for that. One time.

I don't crowd fund because I'd rather just sell you my truly beautiful thing - my Mood Sprays - because I am pretty confident you will enjoy the scent, the luxury packaging, and the humor on the labels. If you enjoy them you will return to the website for more. Mood Sprays are a real idea, in the marketplace, for real-time feedback. And the feedback and support from customers is incredibly satisfying. (Best "starter" mood spray for the novice user: Apathy - smells like fresh-peeled grapefruit!)

I so appreciate my relationships with the folks who have taken a chance on my products - it has been wonderful to get to know all of you and your candor over the past two years has helped me refine the project in so many important ways. Good reviews give me energy for the next steps. Thank you!

I feel good about every box I ship - I've hand-blended every bottle and I know that if it smells good enough for me it smells good enough for you. So, I guess from that point of view, I could feel confident about putting my work up on a crowd funding site. But honestly - it feels so much better when you buy Mood Sprays just because you enjoy them! Thanks for listening.

I rabbit on about the dangers of synthetic fragrances but my friends just smile and nod. In all honesty, they probably decided I was crazy years before I started this anti-bad-mood spray company. My guess is that whenever my anti-phthalate argument kicks in at the dinner table they just tune me out and start thinking about their personal lives. Or maybe that's just my sister. I don't know.

Anyway. The facts are these:

Phthalates are chemicals used in cosmetics, air fresheners, laundry detergent, dryer sheets, and perfumes to make fragrances last longer. Two common phthalates are DBP (di-n-butyle phthalate) and DEHP (di[2-ethylhexyl] phthalate).

In tests on lab rats, certain phthalates have been linked to an anti-testosterone effect, specifically testicular "changes," liver problems, and cancer. A study of 319 mother-and-child pairs from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health showed a link between higher phthalate exposure in utero and slower development in children.

In an interview for The Environment Report, study director Robin Whyatt stated, "Three of the phthalates were significantly associated with behavioral
disorders, or behavioral problems: anxious, depressed behaviors,
emotionally reactive behaviors, withdrawn behavior.” The study also noted a link between the presence of phthalates in the mothers' urine and motor problems in children. The study controlled for a long list of other factors, including smoke, lead, pesticides, and other common chemicals found in our every-day environment.

The European Union bans DBP and DEHP, along with a third phthalate, BBP.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has placed both DBP and DEHP on a
list of chemicals that may be hazardous to humans.The problem is that manufacturers of cosmetics and synthetic fragrances aren't required to
disclose ingredients on the label. You'll simply see "fragrance" on the
list without being able to determine whether the phthalates were added to the product.

Now, obviously, I make my own air fresheners out of totally natural, good-smelling essential oils and sell them on the interwebs for anyone who'd like to give them a try. Sometimes, people tell me that they don't want to try spray my products in shared spaces and I don't say anything, but I'm thinking..."You have no idea how many harmful chemicals are part of your every-day world. A little pink grapefruit essential oil might be the best thing that ever happens to you."

But I don't say that. I just politely nod and smile and respect their decision. But a fifteen-year study from Columbia University is good enough evidence for me. I don't need my toddler to grow man boobs
to convince me not to use fabric softener, ok? My towels smell like
towels, not Jamaican Kiwi-Vanilla Shazam! And I'm just fine with that.

People smell, and that’s not so out-of-the ordinary.
And neither is chronic, day-to-day misery. What’s unusual is when people –
either smelly people or miserable people – actually make an effort to do
something about it.

In an email to HR Products’ headquarters, Heather A. explains
how much she hates her life:

“Things at my work are going to hell in a hand basket. The only
thing keeping me sane is the sprays. My co-worker says that that I look like a
‘huffer’ when she catches me in my office sniffing all the room sprays.”

“She doesn’t
smell,” says Heidi Rettig, CEO of antibadmoodsprays.com. “At least I don’t
think so, because we’ve never actually met, but her life is obviously
completely miserable because she bought all four of my mood-lifting sprays.

Heather A. bought a bottle of Apathy™and then ordered the other
three scents just hours after receiving her first delivery.

“Okay.
I’m hooked. I hate you. I just got my box delivered, and now I’m ordering
again. I’m spraying this sh*t on me and everyone that comes in my office. And
my home. Ahhh … now I can function. Thank you for making my life bearable.”

How many times a day do you find yourself thinking, "I hate my boss?" Google Analytics tells us that this phrase brings more people to The Antidote for Ego website than any other. The sad part is that people aren't even really looking for a "cure," per se. They're just making a kind of search engine confession. These are desperate times.

Cubicle mood sprays can't fix your situation, but they will help you cope. At least in a small way. The aromatherapy blends in each bottle were developed to mitigate common workplace complaints; behaviors that affect all of us at one time or another.

The biggest seller on my website is Apathy™ - and Apathy™ is a great cubicle mood spray to start with if you've never tried aromatherapy before. It's a fresh, grapefruit scent subtle enough for use in a shared space. The natural citrus will clean bad food smells out of the air and improve your mood.

A great idea for your Secret Santa, but mostly, a great idea just for you. Free shipping through the holidays.

James R. Thompson wrote a great article, "When Smells Overtake the Workplace" for TheOfficeProfessional.com Somewhat timely given yesterday's crisis in downtown D.C. And not just because he mentioned our products.

Somewhere near 13th and H Streets, NW, an intern microwaved his leftover fish in the office kitchen. This is another common problem with interns in D.C., though not nearly as well-publicized in the media. Each semester, a well-to-do, pampered-from-childhood Ivy Leaguer joins a company. Desperately wanting to save their parents' money (since they are not being paid) decides to bring their Morton's leftovers to eat for lunch. Regular air fresheners won't cover it. The result? What one staffer called, "Mountain Breeze Flounder."

Apathy™ ; The Antidote for Ego™; Passive™ and Aggressive™ essential oil air fresheners are formulated with citrus oils that clean the air naturally - instead of just trying to cover bad smells with artificial scents or harmful chemicals.